DISTILLATES. 
129 
The oily liquid product which floats on the Volatile spirit of Amber;—it is not, pro¬ 
perly speaking, a Volatile oil analogous to that obtained from plants, but a mixture of 
various pyrogenous products little known. It should be rectified and preserved in like 
manner as the Volatile Oil of Hartshorn, (iv.) Volatile Spirit of Hartshorn, saturated 
by Succinic Acid and filtered forms the Impure Succinate of Ammonia. Liq. Cornu 
Cervi Succinatus. 
A Pharmacopoeia is not intended to teach the student the elements of those 
sciences in which he is especially engaged,—it is not the text book from whose 
pages a knowledge of Chemistry, Pharmacy, Botany and. Materia Medica must 
be sought. Moreover its contents are not addressed specially to the Pharmacist 
but to the Medical Profession. The object of such a work is to provide for¬ 
mulae which may facilitate the daily practice of Medicine. It is imperative, for 
the general safety, that it should indicate strengths, and assign tests of purity 
—which substances simple or compound must satisfy or be rejected;—that it 
should define and limit sources of production. But it is not bound to give 
advice gratis to the manufacturer, as to the best methods by which such strengths 
may be procured, or as to the mode of arriving at the readiest manipulative re¬ 
sults. Pharmacopoeial instructions require to be supplemented by practical ex¬ 
perience. The difficulty with regard to this distillate (Oleum Succini) centres 
in the expression “ en menageant le feu ”—the regulation of the heat. 
Three kinds of retort have been recommended : the first of iron, which seems 
inadmissible : the metal rapidly absorbs and retains its heat, and though this in¬ 
convenience may be overcome, iron does not appear adapted to the purpose. 
The same objection applies also to the u cornue de gres ” the earthenware 
retort, though the egg-shape in which the latter is usually made is much in its 
favour; there is besides the drawback existing in both cases of not seeing the 
exact condition of the Amber when it begins to melt. No sooner is heat applied 
from any source than the Amber begins to swell in a formidable manner, and in 
one so variable that no two samples are alike. Many expedients have been sug¬ 
gested in order that this may be prevented ; equal parts of sand and amber is a 
favourite remedy, but one not likely to be adopted by those desirous of obtain¬ 
ing after products. 
The whole care of the operator should be directed to the management of the 
fire, urging it on, or checking it so as the most speedily, yet with safety to the 
process, to melt the entire contents of the retort. Once let this point be gained, 
and the oil may be distilled over to the last drop ;—till then the dense thick 
vapours and the swelling up have to be carefully watched, while the rapidly 
formed Succinic Acid has to be as speedily removed, else the neck of the retort 
may be choked and the unchecked violent action of the Amber may end in a cata¬ 
strophe. A glass retort, of a prolonged egg shape, capacity not less than ten 
gallons, with short wide neck—neck with no ledge—and the glass without a 
flaw, is the apparatus to be selected. The ledge just mentioned is objectionable 
as it forms a resting place for the Succinic Acid, rendering it difficult to be re- 
• moved and thereby endangering the commencement of the process. 
The source of heat is of some importance. The Codex wisely described it by 
the indefinite word “le feu.” In one published account there is a statement 
that glass not being able to support the heat required, an earthenware retort on 
a sandbath should be employed ;—this is a combination well qualified to deter¬ 
mine failure;—a retort into which you cannot see, and a heat which you cannot 
regulate; while having myself without accident used glass days together while 
distilling Amber, the theory respecting its essential inadaptability may be called 
in question. At present the water-bath seems the most manageable source of 
heat; but for some years past I have thought, and not from hastily drawn con¬ 
clusions, that u applied gas ” will one day revolutionize many of our laboratory 
operations. I believe that there is a career and fortune still open to any one 
VOL. XI. K 
